Helpline sits on SOS, Kolkata has 100 reasons to worry

Cops let down Salt Lake family as robbers strike. This is exactly what happened with a family in the dark hours of Monday when an armed gang — including a woman — broke into their house by cutting through three locked gates and held three children at gunpoint.

TNN | Updated: May 1, 2012, 03:15 IST

3.16am (call to 100): There are dacoits in our neighbour's house. We can see them. They have guns. Taratari ashun
Police: Ashchhi.

3.27am (call to 100): We have been robbed. The dacoits have just walked out. Please help us.

Police: Dekhchhi. Ashchhi.

3.39am (call to 100): We had called you a while ago. We have been robbed.

Police: Shall we send you a van?

If you are in the posh Salt Lake township, this is the response you might get from the police helpline even if your life is in danger. This is exactly what happened with a family in the dark hours of Monday when an armed gang — including a woman — broke into their house by cutting through three locked gates and held three children at gunpoint. A call had gone out to the police when the robbery was still on. The nearest police station is 3km away, barely a five-minute drive at night. But the family says the police arrived nearly 45 minutes later. And that's after the officer on duty asked them if they "wanted" a police van sent over.

North 24-Parganas SP Rajeev Kumar acknowledged the first call to police came at 3.16am but said they reached the AD Block house in 10 minutes. Surinder Singh Dabla, who is still traumatized by the memory of his children trembling in the gangsters' grip, said the police arrived around 4am, more than half an hour after the gang left. Locals said the robbers — who brandished guns to scare them — 'strolled out' without a care.

This is the biggest crime in Salt Lake since the Bidhannagar police commissionarate was set up on January 20. Dabla, an Allahabad Bank manager, had moved into the rented house a year ago. Around 3am, he woke up to the sound of the bedroom door being broken.

The gang had broken the lock of the collapsible gate outside and cut through an inner door but the family heard nothing.

"A cracking noise woke me up. As soon as I opened the door, I saw a band of masked robbers. They put a gun to my head and gagged me. When I tried to resist, they beat me up with iron rods and put a chopper to my neck," said Dabla, who has bandages on his right arm. His wife Sudha was beaten up when she shouted for help. The commotion woke up the children, the youngest of whom is a two-year-old and the oldest 10.

"The robbers were speaking in Hindi. They again beat me with an iron rod. Then they grabbed our children and threatened them. I pleaded with them to take whatever they wanted and spare the kids," Dabla said. The robbers were in the house for over 20 minutes. Two of them, including a woman in salwar-kameez, stood watch outside. The robbers were between 25 years and 30 years.

The children are still traumatized. The younger daughter, Shaiesta, said: "They were carrying weapons and beat up my father." The robbers asked her where her parents kept the money. When she refused, they threatened to kill her father right there and then.

The robbers left at 3.25am, with Rs 30,000 in cash, about 18 gram of gold ornaments, two mobile phones and a wristwatch. It was Shaiesta and her elder sister Akshita, who helped untie their parents. Dabla immediately dialled 100. Unknown to him, his next-door neighbours, Vivek and Snigdha Dey, had called police 10 minutes earlier.

"I woke up around 3am when I heard a noise like a bird chirping. It was too early for birds. Then I heard strange noises coming from outside. I looked out of the window and saw some masked men in the Dablas' house. After a while, the miscreants walked out. When they saw us, they raised their guns at us. We were trembling with fear. My son called police," said Snigdha.

The first time Dabla called 100, the police said they would "look into it immediately". "On getting no response, I called up again after 10 minutes. Then the police asked me whether we want a police van to be sent. I said do whatever you please but please come quickly as a robbery has been committed in my house. It was only about 4am that two police inspectors and a sub-inspector arrived," Dabla said.

Bidhanagar police commissioner Rajiv Kumar however said that police reached the spot "within 10 to 12 minutes of receiving the call". "We got the call at 3.16am and the policemen reached by 3.27am. We are working on some leads to nab the miscreants," he said. Officers from the Bidhannagar north police station inspected the crime scene twice and talked to the victims.

Bidhannagar MLA Sujit Bose and local councillor Anindya Chatterjee also visited the house and spoke with Dabla. "I have had a word with the police commissioner. He is looking into the matter," Bose said. Locals suspect that the gang had prior information about the layout of the house. The neighbourhood is in a state of shock. Last September, too, two suspicious men were spotted on top of the garage and fled when they were detected.

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